The present invention relates to management of inventory. More particularly the present invention relates to maintaining an inventory of items through use of a user interface incorporating a user customized organization wherein both owned and un-owned items can be processed simultaneously and wherein un-owned items can be purchased directly from the user interface.
With reference to FIG. 1, the traditional processes of maintaining a supply of goods or services, and purchasing those goods or services involves several discrete steps. While most people do not consciously think about it, the process of shopping for goods involves a complex procedure which is understood more clearly with reference to FIG. 1. First, in a step 102, a shopper must determine certain goods are needed and then, in a step 104, must either remember that the goods are needed, or must add them to a list of such needed items. In a step 106 the shopper must determine whether either of two conditions are met. First, are there sufficient articles in the list to justify traveling to a store, and second is there at least one item in the list which is needed with sufficient urgency to justify a trip to the store regardless of the size of the list. If the answer to either of these questions is no then the shopper returns to the step 102 of determining that further items are needed and adding them to the list. However, if the answer to either of these questions is yes, then the shopper, in a step 108, determines a first item to search for and a first store in which that item is most likely to be found.
Once at the first store, in a step 110 the shopper searches for the first item. As any shopper will appreciate, in a traditional shopping experience, the process of searching a store for a particular item is dictated by the vendor""s organization of goods. For example, while the shopper may have compiled a shopping a list in which all of the items necessary to make a spaghetti dinner may be grouped together, the store may have items arranged in any number of organizations. The sauce may be in one isle with canned vegetables, while spaghetti noodles are in another isle, and red wine in yet another. Finding the Parmesan cheese is always a problem. To further exacerbate the problem one store often organizes its stock differently from another store.
With continued reference to FIG. 1, in a step 112, once the item is found it is placed in a cart. Then in a step 114 the shopper directs his or her attention to the next sequential item on the list. At this point, in a step 116, the shopper must check the list to determine whether all of the items have been obtained. If the answer is yes then, in a step 118, the shopper proceeds to the check out counter and purchases the item or items in the cart. If the answer to the step 116 is no, then the user proceeds to step 120 to determine whether the remaining article or articles can be purchased at that store. If it can, the shopper returns to the step 110 to search for that item. If the item cannot be found there, then in a step 122, the shopper proceeds to the checkout stand to purchase any items accumulated in the shopping cart. Then in a step 124, the shopper travels to the next store to resume the search step 110. This process continues until all of the items on the list have been obtained.
It will be appreciated that the traditional method of shopping is somewhat cumbersome and time consuming. The process becomes still more difficult if the shopper has a small child to attend to or has a physical impairment which makes travel to and movement within the stores difficult.
With the advent of the Internet and on-line shopping, the process has been made somewhat easier. However, the Internet shopping has essentially maintained the traditional shopping model, with the only real difference being that the shopper does not have to physically travel from one store to another. The on-line shopper still must compile a list of goods needed and then in a separate step, must go to various Internet sites to shop for those goods. Once at the site the shopper must search for the goods which are organized according to the vendor""s chosen organization, which can vary from vendor to vendor. The on-line shopper fills a virtual shopping cart with goods and, when the items remaining on the shopper""s list are not available at that Internet site, the shopper must proceed to another site to finish the list.
Another system which has been developed in an attempt to streamline the shopping experience is the use of bridal registries. Such a registry contains a list of items which a couple desires to own. As friends and family purchase items on the list, the list is constantly updated to indicate which items have been purchased and which items remain to be purchased. However, such a system suffers the drawback that it is only useful for one store and the buyer must go to the store to access the system. In addition, the once an item has been selected from the list, the buyer must purchase the item as a separate, discrete activity. This purchase is generally performed as according to the conventional shopping experience in which the shopper must find the item in the store, using the stores inventory organization, and then must make the purchase in a conventional manner at check out stand or the like.
From the forgoing it is apparent that there remains a need for a new shopping paradigm. Such a shopping paradigm would preferably include a system which would take full advantage of the vast power of computers and of the Internet to eliminate many of the steps required to maintain an inventory of goods or services. Such a system would also preferably provide a tool allowing the shopper to organize goods in a manner most useful to the shopper, would identify for the user which items need to be purchased and would allow the user to purchase each item individually directly from the user customized organizational tool.
The present invention provides a system method and apparatus for allowing a computer user to maintain an inventory of goods or services in an organization which is customized to the user""s individual needs. The organized items include both those items owned by the user and those which need to be purchased, and the user is provided with an indication of which items fall into which category, allowing the user to easily determine which items remain to be purchased. Purchase can be made directly by selecting the needed item without requiring the user to compile a list of items and without visiting different vendors to purchase all needed items.
More particularly, the invention includes a user interface which displays a plurality of category icons each of which represents a user defined grouping of items. These items and groupings are organized in any manner designed by the user. Selecting one of the category icons causes the items within that group to be displayed with an associated status icon. The status icon associated with each item indicates to the user whether the item is currently owned by and available to the user, whether it needs to be purchased, or whether it has been purchased but has not yet been received.
Selecting an item having a status icon indicating that it needs to be purchased will cause a window to be displayed which includes a description of at least one such item available for purchase along with a mechanism for purchasing the item. The item window can include information such as price, availability, size, graphics, etc. The purchase mechanism can be in the form of a button which the user can select to initiate an on-line purchase. The selection of vendors can be preprogrammed, determined in real time, or can be by default, however, the system automatically determines which stores supply the item and provides a link to only those stores.
One embodiment of the invention provides a mechanism for managing a music portfolio. The system can be directly connected with the user""s stereo system and includes user defined play lists. The play lists can be organized in any manner chosen by the user for example genre, artist, instrument, etc. A selection of lists identified by list icons is displayed from which the user can select a desired list. Selecting a desired list causes the musical titles within that list to be displayed. Each title includes a status icon which indicates whether the title is currently owned or needs to be purchased. By selecting an item to be purchased, the user accesses a window containing information regarding the title and a button for initiating a purchase of the musical title. The purchase can be, for example, in the form of downloaded MP3 music or can be on compact disc delivered via a conventional carrier. The lists are transferable so that a user can receive from a friend a list of, for example, party music. When the list is displayed in the user interface, it will indicate which of the items are already owned by the user and which have yet to be purchased.
In another embodiment of the invention, the user interface can be used to maintain a stock of groceries. Again the groceries can be organized in any manner chosen by the user. The groceries are displayed in user customized lists with an indication of which items remain to be purchased. Selecting an item to be purchased opens an item description window and provides for a direct on-line purchase.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the user interface allows a user to easily manage vehicle maintenance. Each vehicle owned by the user is provided with its own icon, selection of which will provide the user with information regarding the maintenance schedule of that vehicle. The system keeps track of maintenance already performed and alerts the user when maintenance is due. The system also provides the user with a selection of service stations from which such service can be provided and also provides the user with links to the service station to schedule such maintenance.